Page 16 - link magazine

16 The Link Magazine • April 2003
D-day for community pharmacies Ambulances hot spot response mixes
If you use an independent community based pharmacy and want to technology with crystal ball gazing
see them continue, there isn't much time left to tell the government
your viewpoint. A little publicised change has taken place over the last three years in
the way the Wiltshire Ambulance Service deploys its resources with
the result that the time taken to respond to an emergency has de-
creased. And the strange thing is, a computer often predicts when an
emergency could take place, and in which part of the town it will
occur.
The Link started to notice ambu- analysis of what might happen
lances parked next to the Link Cen- over the next few hours. "What the
tre some months ago and on en- computer does is examine all the
quiry Swindon Ambulance Station events that have taken place in the
Manager Steve Blackmore con- past for all times of the day and
Julia Drown with Swindon's independent pharmacists, from left, Sue Goddard,
firmed that the deployment proce- suggests when an event could take
locum pharmacist, Nick Jephson, trainee pharmacist; Ken Schofield, Park Lane
dures had been evolving. place," said Steve. "The screen in
Pharmacy; Kaushik Patel, Hawthorn Pharmacy, Gorse Hill; Chris McKendrick,
"We've always operated flexibly our local control room starts glow-
Commercial Road Pharmacy, Frank and Paula Train, Rodbourne, Ray Jephson
and have been subject to emer- ing yellow when the computer con-
Wiltshire Local Pharmaceutical Committee; Sushma Patel, Freshbrook Pharmacy
gency response'Orcori standards siders there is a risk of an incident
The consultation period for an "We independents take pride in since the 1970s," said Steve. "Over and gradually changes to red when
Office of Fair Trading (OFT) re- the level and continuity of service the last five years Government and where there is a statistical like-
port which recommends scraping to our communities. Come rain or standards have required us to have lihood of a major call out occurring.
of regulation on NHS dispensing shine we are always there for our a vehicle and
pharmacies ends in early April. customers." paramedic at
If the government accepts that South Swindon MP Julia Drown, a category A
anybody can set up a pharmacy, said, "I have received many letters life threaten-
the large supermarkets will swoop from constituents calling for re- ing incident
in. The likelihood is that independ- tention of controls. I do not think within eight
ents in local shopping areas will be supermarkets should be able to set minutes in
crushed by the competition. up NHS dispensing wherever they seventy five
Sushma Patel, who has run like and I am hopeful that the Gov- per ce' "f
Freshbrook Pharmacy for over six- ernment will reject the OFTs rec- cases.
teen years, said local pharmacies ommendations. The Government " T h e
are a mainstay of a community. is keen to protect local services." changing
"Ninety per cent of my patients, To add your views, write to Julia way we work
both young and the elderly, know Drown or North Swindon MP is not some-
and trust me to seek advice on a Michael Wills at the House of Com- thing we've Jamie Smith from Westlea, on solo duty at Shaw Ridge
range of issues. mons, London SWI. advertised, Leisure Park, with a Volvo to be replaced by a Honda
but as Swin-
don has grown we've had to refine "This gives us time to place an
what we call dynamic deployment ambulance crew in the predicted
procedures so that we can meet area and wait to see what happens.
the target. The opening of the Great It seems like science gazing into a
Western Hospital on one edge of crystal ball, but the system is amaz-
the town is also another factor. ingly accurate - quite spooky at
This means that we have vehicles times. With a minimum of thirty
manned by a solo paramedic or emergency calls a day, it is a great
technician at key points around help to be forewarned where and
the town more often, so that they when an incident may take place."
can be at the scene within the time Unfortunately, a number of the
limit." calls are not emergencies at all,
In January this year ambulances because people cannot get a doc-
were on the scene within eight tor to respond to a house call, or
minutes on 83% of calls and with social services are not available to
the introduction of new equipment help and crews find themselves
and more crews, the service is aim- providing counselling for people
ing for 95% within the next few or dealing with the effects of a
years. Extra funding has been re- drunken brawl when they could
ceived for 2003 so that more solo be attending a real emergency.
vehicles can be deployed in the Apart from the arrival of the
community. Honda CRVs and the fourfold in-
During March the first of a fleet crease in the number of solo
of Honda CRV ambulances built deployments in the next year, am-
at the Swindon factory were deliv- bulance crews will be moving into
ered to give crews a better envi- new standby rooms at the local
ronment to work in when caring police stations next to the Link
for emergency patients, whilst the Centre in West Swindon and at the
four wheel drive will improve ac- North Swindon District Centre.
cess to off-road incidents. And in April a new joint police,
However, positioning of ambu- ambulance and fire service control
lances is not a random decision. room in Devizes will become op-
Information on every type of inci- erational, the first of its kind in the
dent dealt with by ambulance country, providing the immediate
crews over the last few years is interchange of information to im-
held on a central computer which prove the response of the emer-
continually carries out predictive gency services.